As my experience with MSBA continues, I am learning, working, laughing, and connecting with so many incredible sports business professionals – meeting and surpassing my expectations for my summer with MSBA.
“As the summer winds down, and the schedule dwindles, the memories of speakers and lessons from workshops will stay with me – but perhaps the most lasting impact will come from the friendships developed.”
In discussing my experience in MSBA, I will start with my internship at the NFL. Increasingly, after the first few weeks, I have been learning more and more about consumer products and their impact on sports business. It is becoming clear that to work in consumer products, one must understand all aspects of business rather than focusing on just one facet. You need to be able to understand the legal side of licensing out product, how to market the products you have licensed out, how to leverage your partnerships, and finance. I am increasingly happier with the department I am working in because it is providing me with what I believe to be and incredibly strong foundation in sports business.
MSBA has been fantastic as well. The speakers have all begun to echo a similar sentiment regarding career development, which is to make genuine connections, and continue to leverage them. It is interesting to me how that works across all facets of the sports industry. From creative to agency, team to league, everyone in this business is interconnected and if you have a network to back you up, you can be successful.
While we have been working hard and learning a lot, MSBA has given us our share of laughs and fun as well. One example comes from last week’s trip to SWERVE Fitness. As someone who does a fantastic job at pretending to be athletic, this was a great opportunity to expose my lack of athleticism. And fear not, I did just that.
As the summer winds down, and the schedule dwindles, the memories of speakers and lessons from workshops will stay with me – but perhaps the most lasting impact will come from the friendships developed. Everyone in the program has gone through everything together and that is important to keep in mind as we all go out into the world of sports business.
I believe that this experience was worth a ton and its value is immeasurable.